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Friday, November 11, 2011

Josie Update!

Josie Duggar, born at 25 weeks gestation and weighing only 1 pound 6 ounces, turns two next month! How is she progressing? Let's take a look.

"It is a miracle," Michelle tells People Magazine in a recent article."Josie is the most energetic, busy little almost-2-year-old. She is short, and yet she can keep up with the big girls and she thinks she is just as big as they are. We are amazed at what she can do."

According to the article, Josie is "developing normally, without any longterm effects from her premature birth." Michelle and the girls have taught her sign language, and she is learning to respond to her parents' words.

On this week's episode, Josie was eating at the Duggars' dinning room table and started making noise. Jim Bob, while answering viewers' questions in the living room, leaned over and gently said, "Hey Josie, let's be really quiet, okay? Daddy's doing an interview." Josie's response proves how intelligent an infant she is. She answered, "K Dada."

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Comments: Click Here to Add Yours:

Bayley P.
said...

Josie is so cute! She is definitely a miracle. I know she will be an excellent big sister and I am looking forward to seeing her interact with the new baby. I can't believe she is almost two. Her rough start in life made her strong. I can't wait to see her grow up.

I just want you guys to know how happy I am for your family! We are a bigger family as well and in a heartbeat would add more! I am very excited that Josie is doing so well! As an Occupational Therapist I know all to well that things could have turned out less than ideal! Thanking the Lord for her bright future he is allowing her! Hope you guys have the most wonderful holiday season! Sarah Olson

How precious!Aw man, I hope nobody wants to compare my kids' heights to "average". All our bio kids are so short! ha! My 10 yo is frequently mistaken for a 7 yo. Born full term, normal development; she's just petite.

I'm 21, only 4'9 and 82 pounds, so I frequently get mistaken for a 12 year old, especially if I decide to kick back and dress more casually than I usually do. I have a young looking face as well, which doesn't help on that account. I was normal height and weight at birth (exactly average, 50th percentile for both) but by the time I was a year old, I had fallen off the growth charts and I never got back on them. I just didn't grow as fast. A little look at my file shows that when I was 25 months old, I was 19.3 pounds and 30.5 inches. Congratulations to Josie on passing my markers-you are probably on the growth charts now!

Preemies tend to be off the growth charts and often need to be compared to their full-term date and not just their actual birth date. They have to first finish their womb-growing after being born; then they can work at standard growth rates. Anyway, like Michelle said, Josie is short. But that looks like a family trait too. Both Josiah (until recently) and Jana are pretty short and none of the younger boys are beanpoles.The important thing is that she continues to progress, and not so much where she is compared to other kids. Shouldn't that be the way that we judge on many things -- against themselves instead of so much comparison to other kids?

Musicgirl23, thank you for sharing your input. We sometimes need to be reminded that the term "normal" is a broad range.

When Josie was born premature, one of my prayers was that God would strengthen her and raise her up for HIS GLORY, and that the scorners and scoffers would be ashamed. He has clearly done that, and yet I still hear people saying things like, "I can't believe she is expecting another - didn't she learn anything the last time?"

Unfortunately, we live in a society where normal is defined as, "like me".

My son was born this past Christmas morning weighing 616 grams, or 1 lb 6 oz. He was 24 weeks gestation. After I had him I found myself online reading and then I saw that Josie was in the same position. It is so great to see her beating the odds, it makes so happy and continues to give me faith in how lucky we truly are. Jackson will be a year soon, and I couldnt help but cry when they showed the video of Josie. They are a very strong family and going through a premature birth, will only make you stronger. ~Bridget~

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